Senior Support Worker - Learning Disabilities Admission Avoidance

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Job overview

The Learning Disabilities Care Hub as part of the Specialist Network within Pennine Care NHS Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Trust are opening a new service for people with a learning disability who are experiencing a period of crisis. This is a new and exciting opportunity for you to come and join a brand new service, within a new team that will be located within Radcliffe, Bury.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to come and join our new team supporting people with a Learning Disability with or without Autism who are experiencing a period of crisis. This new service requires a number of senior support workers who will provide care and support to service users, their families and carer's with post holders having a good level of effective communication skills. You will routinely interact with service users, their families and carer's and a wide range of professionals from across Greater Manchester.

The post holders will provide a wide range of practical care duties and activities working directly with service users, who have challenging behaviours and will play a vital role in supporting people to recover.

We are looking for individuals to join our new service who have excellent interpersonal skills and will work across a multi professional team. The post holders will also provide supervisory support to the other Support Workers and will interlink with the Unit Manager, Administrator and other professionals working within the unit.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work within the Admission Avoidance Unit predominately on the Radcliffe site within the borough of Bury and may at times work across the footprint of Pennine Care. Our new service aims to provide a therapeutic model of care to people aged 16-25 years with a Learning Disability with or without Autism who are experiencing a period of crisis by the provision of a service to reduce hospital admissions and offer of a de-escalation programme.
The Senior Support Worker will be a role model to others through demonstrating excellent support to those in our care and will work collaboratively with the Unit Manager to support and manage the unit effectively. Working with a multi-disciplinary team you will contribute to the ongoing assessment, providing and monitoring care in line with the pathways and as agreed with supervising clinician(s). The Senior Support Worker will have a breadth of knowledge in providing holistic and person-centered care and support for people with a learning disability and be responsible for ensuring high quality care applying a model of care through collaborative management and includes supervision of other support workers. The Senior Support Worker will be responsible for ensuring all relevant standards and plans are maintained during shifts. The post holder will be equipped with the relevant skills, attitudes and behaviors and will act in accordance with all relevant standards of practice.

Working for our organisation

The new service is part of our Learning Disabilities Care Hub which is situated within the Specialist Network. Our new service will support service users across the footprint of Greater Manchester (10 localities).

PCFT are proud to provide high quality mental health and learning disability services, both inpatient and in the community across five boroughs of Greater Manchester - Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Tameside and Glossop.

Our vision is for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in our communities and our staff work hard to deliver the very best care for the people who use our services. We're really proud of our #PennineCarePeople and do everything we can to make sure we're a great place to work.

All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership are encouraged to apply for this post. We would also encourage applications from individuals with a lived experience of mental illness, either individually or as a carer.'

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please read the attached job description and person specification as this will give you further details on the requirements of the role.

When completing your application, please ensure you give examples of how you meet each of the essential criteria and if possible, the desirable criteria. This is ultimately what you'll be shortlisted against.

Person specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential criteria

• NVQ level 4 in Care (or equivalent experience), or a commitment to work towards
• Care Certificate or willing to work towards

Desirable criteria

• Assessor in CC
• Management and/or supervisory qualification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working with Children and Young People
• Experience of working with people with a learning disability and/or autism
• Experience of providing care and support in a community setting and/or residential setting
• Experience of carrying out observations
• Experience of Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression
• Experience of working with people with a learning disability to enhance their quality of life
• Experience of leading/managing people

Desirable criteria

• Experience of caring for others
• Experience of working in a multi disciplinary team
• Experience of being involved in the delivery of therapeutic activities

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Understanding of positive behavioral support
• An awareness of stigma and discrimination of people with learning disabilities
• Awareness of ward procedures and clinical observations

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

• Able to impart knowledge, supervise and direct the work of others under supervision.
• Able to communicate effectively with clients and their carers'.
• Able to remain calm in stressful situations and display patience and empathy
• Able to respond sensitively to emotional distress
• Able to report observations accurately and concisely.
• Able to develop and maintain effective therapeutic relationships patients and families
• Able to organise day to day tasks and activities based on an agreed work plan.

Desirable criteria

• Willingness to participate in staff induction and training for junior staff

Hints and tips for completing your application can be found here.

Sponsorship - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

What happens after your application has been received?

You will be informed about the progress of your application following shortlisting via email. Only applicants who clearly demonstrate the criteria listed in the person specification will be shortlisted for interview. Interview invites will be sent out via email.

What happens if I am offered the position after interview?

The hiring manager will make contact with you to verbally offer you the position. The hiring manager will then inform Recruitment of the decision and provide relevant paperwork. You will be sent a formal conditional offer via email.

What pre-employment checks will I need to complete?

By conducting pre-employment checks, the recruitment team will verify that you meet the pre-conditions of the role you have been offered. Pre-employment checks will be carried out according to NHS Employment Check Standards. The checks are:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to NHS will be required to provide HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years. This information will used to validate employment history and references as part of pre-employment checks.

If you are offer a position with is and you require sponsorship to support your right to work, we will review your eligibility in line with government guidance. If the role you have been offer is not eligible for sponsorship, and you are not able to evidence your right to work, your conditional offer could be withdrawn.

What happens when pre-employment checks are complete?

Recruitment will liaise with you and the hiring manager to arrange a start date for your new position. You will then be booked on to a Trust Welcome Session and be sent your Pennine Care NHS Terms and Conditions.

Other important information

• We are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and recognise the importance of ensuring our diverse service user population is reflected within our workforce. Unfortunately, we know that, at present, there is underrepresentation of our communities in our workforce. We welcome applications from people from diverse communities to help us grow, learn, be better and consider brilliant innovation diverse people bring.
• If you would like to be considered under the disability confident scheme, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria on the person specification for the post.
• If you require reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process please phone us on 0161 716 3181 at the earliest opportunity. We will support you to complete your application.
• Unfortunately we are not able to guarantee the transfer of lease cars, or cover the costs of early termination charges.
• We have a strict policy on unsolicited contact from recruitment agencies. Please do not contact our hiring managers directly.

We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date if a sufficient number of applications have been received. To ensure you application is considered, please submit at the earliest opportunity.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• Job Description (PDF, 116.4KB)
• Person Specification (PDF, 228.4KB)
• Policy Statement on Recruitment of Ex-Offenders (PDF, 117.0KB)